the father; after the sisters come the maternal aunts, who take precedence over the paternal aunts and are themselves ordered in the same descending fashion, followed by the paternal aunts, who are likewise ordered.
Any woman in this list who marries forfeits her right, except the grandmother when her husband is the child’s grandfather.
If no eligible woman from the child’s family exists and the men contend for custody, the closest agnatic relative has the stronger claim.
The mother and the grandmother have priority over a boy until he can eat, dress, and clean himself unaided, and over a girl until she begins to menstruate.
For relatives other than the mother and grandmother, a girl remains in their custody only until she reaches an age at which she is desired.
When a female slave is freed by her master, or an umm walad is emancipated, they are, with respect to the child, like a freewoman; before manumission neither the slave-woman nor the umm walad has any custody right.
A dhimmi mother has priority over her Muslim child so long as the child is still incapable of distinguishing between religions and there is no fear that he will become attached to unbelief.
If a divorced woman wishes to take her child out of the city, she may not do so unless she is returning with him to her own homeland—the place where her husband had married her.
A man must support his parents, grandfathers, and grandmothers when they are poor, even if they follow a different religion.
Maintenance is not obligatory across religious difference except between spouses, between a person and his parents or grandparents, and between a person and his children and grandchildren.
No one shares with the son the duty of supporting his parents.
Support is due to every mahram relative who is a poor minor, a poor adult woman, or a poor male who is chronically ill or blind, and the burden is apportioned according to the shares of inheritance.
The maintenance of an adult daughter and an incapacitated son is divided between their parents in thirds: two-thirds on the father and one-third on the mother.
This maintenance is not required when their religions differ, nor is it due from someone who is himself indigent.
If an absent son owns property, a judgment may be entered against it for his parents’ support.
Should the father sell the son’s movable goods to meet that support, the sale is valid according to Abu Hanifah; if he sells real estate, it is invalid.
If the son’s property is in his parents’ hands and they spend from it, they incur no liability, but if it is in the hands of a stranger who spends on them without the judge’s permission, that stranger is liable.
When the judge fixes maintenance for the child, the parents, or other kin, and time then passes, the claim lapses—unless the judge has authorized borrowing on the child’s account.
A master must maintain his male and female slaves; if he refuses and they are able to earn, they may work and provide for themselves.
If they cannot earn, the master is compelled to sell them.